The good news is that the company will be paying a nine figure settlement.
In the past, I wrote about the pattern of false accusations made by the rental car company. The company often filed police reports over cars being stolen, but it wasn't very careful.
People were arrested for being accused of stealing a car even when they had a legitimate rental agreement and had just picked up the car.
It is one thing if this were an isolated incident, but court records show that over the course of four years, Hertz has filed over 8000 theft reports. Most of the cases involve renters who are weeks or months late with their car returns, according to the company. There are many cases where that is not the case.
30 minutes later, you find yourself at a gun point in a parking lot, because you rented a car from the same company. A person spent seven months in jail because of a false police report.
We have wondered if anything would ever change, and if Hertz would be responsible for this. The latest update makes me think that the company might be a bit more cautious in the future.
According to View from the Wing, the company has reached a settlement that will bring resolution to 98% of theft reporting claims.
By the end of the year, the company will have paid around $168 million to resolve these disputes. The average person in the suit will get $460K, not accounting for legal fees.
The resolution of these claims won't have a material impact on the capital allocation plans for the rest of the decade.
The CEO of the company had this to say.
“As I have said since joining Hertz earlier this year, my intention is to lead a company that puts the customer first. In resolving these claims, we are holding ourselves to that objective. While we will not always be perfect, the professionals at Hertz will continue to work every day to provide best-in-class service to the tens of millions of people we serve each year. Moving forward, it is our intention to reshape the future of our company through electrification, shared mobility and a great digital-first customer experience.”
I don't think "Not always perfect" is a good way to describe his actions.
The company will be paying $168 million to settle most of its lawsuits. People with legitimate rental agreements can find themselves in handcuffs when the car rental giant mistakenly files police reports over stolen vehicles.
It is hoped that the amount of money being paid here will cause Hertz to be more cautious.
What do you think about the deal?
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